Even in his everyday life, Peter Parker is surrounded by amazing people. Flash Thompson, his high school bully, is one of the people we will be discussing today. Throughout high school, he harassed and bullied Peter. Not just Peter, but he was the primary reason why numerous of his classmates despised high school and refused to attend lessons.
He was, along with J. Jonah Jameson, one of the most well-known and popular human enemies in the Spider-Man series. Flash, on the other hand, began to mature after school ended and he enrolled at Empire State University. He acquired new acquaintances, his connection with Peter improved, and he started to think about himself more.
With the information about his home life, it is evident that the guy who was the most popular guy in his high school has a dark side. After joining the military, Flash was inspired by Spider-Man and took part in heroic activities. He lost his legs as a result of one of these acts, and all hope was gone until the government handed him the symbiote.
We shall take a look at Flash Thompson’s path as Agent Venom in this video.
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Agent Venom: Debut
The legendary writer Stan Lee had created Flash Thompson in 1962 with Marvel artist Steve Ditko. The character made his debut in the world of Marvel in Amazing Fantasy Vol. 1 Issue 15. Spider-Man was also a part of this issue and following this, Flash Thompson went on to become a regular in The Amazing Spider-Man series for the first four years. After that, Flash Thompson left the cast and joined the Vietnam War in 1967. He would make occasional appearances in The Amazing Spider-Man series but retained his status as a recurring character in 1972 with issue number 105.
Flash Thompson was not overly good friends with Spider-Man at first, with Flash often being bitter towards Peter Park, but their dynamic did get more cordial as time went by. However, The Amazing Spider-Man Issue Number 138 saw a huge shift in this when Flash allowed Peter to room with him after being turned away by his other friends and acquaintances.
The point of expanding on his character was to show that there was a different, more vulnerable side to Flash Thompson. This is explored in the July 1997 release of The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 with the title, ‘That Thompson Boy’. We get to see how his Flash Thompson personality is a facade that hides the complex, wounded boy that is Eugene Thompson. Flash has to deal with the two very human sides of himself and strike the perfect balance.
But this is just Flash, let’s talk about him as Agent Venom. As the new incarnation of Venom, Flash makes his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #654 in February, 2011 making him a relatively newer addition to the verse. He got his chance to be the titular character in the second volume of Venom, which was released in the same year but in May.
As Venom, he became a regular character from 2010 – 2013, in the Secret Avenger series. He also appeared in the 2012 series Red Hulk’s Thunderbolts. He goes to space in The Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, #14. He ended up getting his own series called “Venom: Space Knight” but unfortunately, it was canceled after thirteen issues.
Agent Venom: Origin
Flash Thompson was originally known as Eugene Thompson. He went to Midtown High School. He became a renowned football player in his school and boasted athletic prowess and amazing speed, earning him the nickname ‘Flash’. He was popular and had an easy school life as a teenager.
But there is more to it than what meets the eye. His popularity and athleticism made him a victim of Harry’s abuse, his alcoholic father. Harry was a police officer and he beat Flash regularly, degraded him despite his achievements, and made his life extremely rough. The resentment piled up in Flash and he resorted to taking it out on others by bullying them. His victims were often people whom he considered to be weaker than him, which is why he referred to Peter as puny Peter Parker.
He dated Liz Allan in school who was the school’s most popular girl. But after Liz began to develop an attraction towards Peter Parker, a jealous Flash began to bully Peter more exclusively. However, after Spider-Man entered the scene, Flash became his biggest fan, oblivious to the spider’s real identity.
He graduated from Midtown and joined the Empire State University under a sports scholarship. He befriended Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn. When Flash tried to introduce Peter to his friends, Peter ignored them completely. Back then, Peter’s mind was plagued by Aunt May’s ailing health so, he was not aware of his actions and tended to live more in his head due to the stress. However, this made Harry and Flash interpret it as Peter being snobbish, making him a victim to Harry as well. Gwen tried to befriend him and gradually, he became a part of Flash’s circle. Through Peter, Flash also became friends with Mary Jane.
Before he could graduate from the Empire State University, Flash enrolled in the army to fight in the Vietnam War. When he was stationed in South East Asia, he fell in love with Sha Shan, a Vietnamese native. He bumped into her after returning to New York but she was reluctant to talk to him. After trying to get the truth out, Flash learned that she was now a member of the supervillain organization called the Legion of Light, making her an enemy to Spider-Man. However, her husband Achmed Korba or Brother Power had forced her into this role, which Flash was able to get her out of with help from Spider-Man and Razorback.
Sha Shan became his girlfriend but it did not last. They got separated and he succumbed to severe mental stress and acts of recklessness. He then began to go out with Betty Brant, closing his chapter with Sha Shan.
Once, Flash had boasted about Hobgoblin being a coward on live television. This birthed a rivalry between the two. At that time, Roderick Kingsley wore the Hobgoblin mantle and wanted vengeance. So, he convinced people that Flash himself was the Hobgoblin. He did so by kidnapping Flash, dressing him in his attire, and brainwashing him into fighting Spider-Man. Due to his lack of power and experience, Flash lost to Spider-Man easily. Hobgoblin’s weaponry was found in his apartment, obviously planted by Kingsley, and Flash was sent to prison.
In prison, the Scourge of the Underworld targeted him. This group targeted costumed criminals but Flash was ultimately saved by Spider-Man and the real Hobgoblin. He was able to clear his reputation in the end, with some help from Spider-Man, of course.
Flash’s footballer career, unfortunately, came to an end after he retained a severe arm injury following a battle with Jason Macendale’s Hobgoblin. Flash resorted to alcoholism as he was now both single and lacked job opportunities. Norman Osborn helped him stand up on his feet once again, but since he was the Green Goblin, he tried to change Flash’s mind about Spider-Man. When he failed, Norman tried to kill Flash instead and concealed the incident as an accident caused by Flash’s alcoholism. Flash had survived; however, he was put into a coma.
After waking up from the coma, Flash became a gym teacher in Midtown High. Memory loss following the incident made him return to old habits like bullying Peter Parker, who was a science teacher in the same school. During the superhero Civil War, Peter’s identity as Spider-Man was outed. Flash did not believe this and assumed that Peter was just protecting Spider-Man. He finally believed it when he witnessed Peter protect the Midtown students against Mephisto. He was also kidnapped by Miss Arrow, a nurse he had flirted with. Miss Arrow was an evil counterpart of Spider-Man, who had chosen Flash to be his mate. Later, she wanted to kill him off as she wanted to mate with Spider-Man instead.
Flash rejoined the military years later. When his squad was ambushed in Iraq, he saved his commanding officer but his legs sustained terrible injuries. Both his legs had to be amputated and he was able to deal with the loss with the help of his friends. During this time, he began to see Betty Brant once again.
Flash was awarded the congressional medal of honor for his courage with which he had saved his commanding officer. He revealed that he did so because he was inspired by Spider-Man’s heroism. He had also gained respect for Peter and no one seemed to remember that Peter was, in fact, Spider-Man. However, his relationship with Peter became sour when Peter resorted to selling embarrassing pictures of Spider-Man for money after he lost his job.
But how did he become Agent Venom? For the answer to this question, we need to talk about what happened during the Siege of Asgard. Mac Gargan was separated from the Venom symbiote and it fell into the possession of the US Government. This was kept under the wraps and contained in the Department of Homeland Security. The government wanted to use the power of the symbiote to create a super-soldier who would fight for the country, but the symbiote did not bond with any other host. The candidates also ended up dead.
The Government ended up approaching Flash Thompson with the offer, who went for it and bonded with the symbiote. He began to control the suit with the help of sedatives and his willpower. However, he would only be allowed to be Agent Venom for twenty missions and he could never come into contact with the symbiote ever again because they wanted to prevent Flash from being addicted to the suit. As Venom, his powers exceeded that of Spider-Man’s. During this time, he fought formidable enemies like the Jack O’ Lantern and Kraven the Hunter.
When fighting Kraven the Hunter, he was poisoned. Meanwhile, Jack O’Lantern had managed to capture pictures of Flash as he lay, separated from the symbiote. Now, his identity was in jeopardy. Jack O’Lantern used it to his advantage and kidnapped Betty, causing Flash to lose control over the symbiote. He still fought with the sheer strength of his willpower and was able to bring it under control until he was intercepted by Spider-Man. Frustrated by the new obstacle in his path and Betty being taken hostage, he ended up losing control all over again and was overrun by his bitter feelings for Spider-Man. The government saw them fight and Agent Venom’s loss of control over the symbiote. So, they decided to detonate the explosives that were implanted in him as a safety measure. However, the symbiote had already removed it and he survived it. In the end, he was able to procure the drugs required to control it, while Spider-Man saved Betty.
Agent Venom: Major Story Arcs
Spider-Island
Flash’s father, Harry, was hospitalized after he began to suffer from cirrhosis of liver due to his alcoholism. Soon after, the spider infection began to spread all across New York City. Flash’s father begged to speak with his son but Flash couldn’t do so as he had to deal with the crisis as Agent Venom.
Flash fought Spider-King, who was one of the Queen’s henchmen, as he tried to prevent the infection from spreading to New Jersey. He managed to incapacitate Spider-King with help from Gravity. The identity of the Spider-King was revealed to be Steve Rogers aka Captain America. Flash was ordered to mimic his appearance using the powers of the symbiote and infiltrate the Queen’s base to kill her.
Before he could kill her, a clone of the Jackal appeared and spoke about how Eddie Brock, the former host of the symbiote and presently Anti-Venom was able to cure the patients. The Queen ordered the Spider-King mimic to kill Anti-Venom and Flash left immediately. He notified the Future Foundation about it and was asked to retrieve Anti-Venom so that Horizon Labs could concoct a cure for the infection as well.
After dealing with this situation and taking Brock to the designated lab, Flash met with his dying father at the hospital and they were reminiscing about their good times together until Harry Thompson passed away in front of him.
He goes back to assassinate the Queen but is pushed by her sonic scream, the very thing the symbiote is vulnerable to. Steve Rogers joined him in this fight against the Queen and ultimately, after the rejuvenated clone of Peter Parker, Kaine, added his help, the Queen was finally killed.
Flash later fought The Hijacker when he returned after the spider people had turned back to normal humans. He wanted to rob several banks and quit forever. As his tank ran over a security guard, a mother, and a child, Flash lost control over the symbiote and ended up killing The Hijacker by viciously mauling him, biting his head, and spitting it out.
Minimum Carnage
Flash encounters Kaine, the Scarlet Spider, during a mission where he has to bring in Carnage who has kidnapped Katy Kiernan, the reporter. He follows Kaine into the Microverse to find Carnage but wakes up to being attacked by sonic screaming pixies. He loses control over the symbiote again but is brought back via the whistling of a sonic pixie. He is captured by the Enigma Force and learns that Carnage was captured too. It is revealed that the symbiotes were cancer to the Enigma Forces’ power and they were expelled from the Microverse.
Marquis Radu wanted to use the symbiotes and create an army to kill the real god of the Microverse, the Redeemer. Radu tries to use them both to create a hybrid symbiote. The two symbiotes fight brutally until Kaine shows up with the Redeemer. Flash realizes that he can control Carnage as Venom is its parent symbiote but for that, he has to reawaken Venom’s mind. He succeeds at doing so and defeats the hybrids and Carnage. However, Carnage seeps through the floor and is dispelled from the Microverse, as it escapes.
Flash comes back to Houston with Kaine and Katy and encounters a restored Carnage. They manage to defeat it but Flash prevents Kaine from killing Carnage as it was in a catatonic state.
The Evil Inside Us All and Moving to Philadelphia
Flash defeats a group of people who worship the devil. Flash also begins to reflect on his life and the consequences of his actions, both as a bully and as Agent Venom. Controlled by the symbiote, he wreaks havoc on a devil worshiper and his own mother. A pentagram is seemingly visible in the symbiote.
Flash talks to Peter about himself and is told that he had made school life a living hell for many. As a result, Flash decides to move to Philadelphia. He becomes their version of Spider-Man and also works as an assistant gym coach at a high school. He encounters a strange creature that was eating people and defeats it. Eddie Brock returns as Toxin and the two fight brutally but Eddie Brock clearly has the upper hand with his superior symbiote.
In the end, he manages to escape but returns home in a terrible state. When his student offers to help him, Flash asks her to leave as he does not want to form bonds with people and be the reason why they get hurt.
The cannibalistic creature is on the loose, infecting more and more humans, and attacks the school where Flash worked. Eddie Brock shows up, and the creature tries to kill both Venom and Toxin but they manage to win the battle.
Katy Kiernan approaches him later with knowledge of his presence when the school was saved by Venom and Toxin. He dismisses her and lies about not having seen much of the fight. But, when he is attacked by Lord Deathstrike and Constrictor and a bounty is put on his head, he contacts Katy for her help.
Jack Returns
He meets Katy incognito, dressed as an elderly woman. He tries to network around the city when he finds his student Andi and her father are being chased by Jack O’Lantern. He tries to stop the villain but Jack stabs Andi’s father, leaving a mortal wound in the chest. He then tries to kill Andi off with poison bombs when an enraged Flash extends the symbiote to protect Andi. However, part of the symbiote bonds with her, and she turns into Mania.
Together, they defeat Jack O’Lantern but realize that the person inside was someone else who was hypnotized by Jack’s powers and memories. He escapes and Flash follows suit with Andi. However, they fall into a trap and are surrounded by gunned assassins. The two web up the assassins and go their separate ways.
Thunderbolts
Flash is approached by General Thunderbolt Ross during a mission in Somalia. He is asked to join Ross’ Thunderbolts, an association that worked on the philosophy, ‘If the infection cannot be cured, it has to be cut out’. Flash ends up working with Deadpool, Punisher, and Elektra.
Working as a team had resulted in an increase in Venom’s appetite for rage. So, Flash had to go a mile and above to keep it under control. Ross told them that they can choose a mission and have the team support them so Flash decided to let the symbiote take over and test its abilities against the rest of the Thunderbolts.
Even though Venom was a strong adversary for the team, the Thunderbolts managed to subdue it. Ross used Hulk’s supersonic claps which separated Venom from Flash. The symbiote was detained by Ghost Rider’s hellfire chains and it made Flash content that his teammates could control him. He re-bonded with the symbiote and left the team.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Flash is asked to join the Guardians of the Galaxy by Tony Stark, as a representative of the Avengers in space. He goes on several adventures with them and visits the Planet of Symbiotes. Here, the symbiote is cured of its rage and it evolves into something new.
He returns to Earth when the Guardians get stranded on the planet after the second civil war of the superhumans. During a fight with a government agent, Flash loses the symbiote after it runs wild and abandons him. In the end, it returns to Eddie Brock.
The New Anti-Venom
Andi’s Mania is stolen from her and Flash suspects that this is the same culprit responsible for separating him from Venom. He finds Venom re-bonded with Eddie Brock in the Alchemax Tower. The two fight, with Flash relying on the remaining symbiote particles for strength. Unable to understand whom to bond with, the symbiote encompasses both Flash and Eddie. Spider-Man arrives to help and overturns a serum that is meant to kill the organism.
However, the serum results in the portion of Flash’s side of the symbiote to turn white. It had abilities such as purging toxins, poisons, infections, and could heal physical injuries. Flash dubs it as the Anti-Venom.
Meanwhile, Lee Price, a man who was bonded to Venom right after the symbiote had left Flash and before it had re-bonded with Eddie, was now the host of Mania. Flash took on him with the help of Spider-Man and Venom and was able to subdue Maniac with Spider-Man’s blood sample, which helped him develop Anti-Maniac immunity.
Venomized
Flash is summoned by Alchemax as they needed his help to deal with an invasion of Poisons, an alien species that used symbiotes to attack superpowered humans. Alchemax wanted to render the Poisons harmless using Flash’s anti-symbiote powers but Flash believed that the symbiotes were also victims of the Poisons just like humans. He went to confront and interrogate a symbiote with Spider-Man and Venom, where he encountered a Venomized Punisher. He uses his powers on him but it melted the symbiote with no traces of The Punisher.
Now concerned about hurting people, Flash retracted from the fight. Meanwhile, a Venomized Thanos attacked his quintet. He fought the other venomized superhumans there and ended up killing the creation of Kid Kaiju because he saw no other option.
In the end, Queen Poison was killed and the Poisons on Earth died.
Threat Level: Red
Flash began to work as security for Liz Allan’s company after he was blackmailed to do so. He teamed up with Spider-Man after Goblin King stole their resources. The body of the goblin was found dead and tied up to J. J. Jameson, who informed the nightclub where he was found that Norman Osborn had bonded with Carnage and turned into the Red Goblin.
Norman Osborn had injured several people including friends of Spider-Man such as Human Torch and Miles Morales as the Red Goblin. Agent Venom tried to heal them but became vulnerable to the Goblin’s attacks. He was hospitalized when he learned that Peter Parker was Spider-Man, and left the hospital to join him. Spider-Man had bonded with the Venom symbiote and fought the Red Goblin. Flash tried to purge Carnage but was mortally wounded. Spider-Man gave into Venom’s anger but was talked out of it by a dying Flash.
Following his death, he got a military funeral with honors.
King in Black
Following his death, Flash entered the symbiote Hive-Mind due to his connection to the symbiotes. There, he teamed up with Rex Strickland’s army of previous hosts of symbiotes from when Knull had invaded Earth. After Eddie died fighting Knull, Flash recruited him into the army. However, after Eddie’s son, Dylan dissolved the symbiotes and freed the hosts, a portal opened in the Hive-Mind to where Flash and Eddie were. From there, they were able to see symbiotes beyond the portal and learned that they were being imprisoned after losing their connection to Knull.
Flash decided to enter the portal to free the symbiotes. He bonded with one of them and returned to the land of the living. This time, he was a symbiote dragon. He flew to the cemetery where he was buried, while the symbiote dragons were becoming unstable due to Knull’s death. He bled out on his graveyard and reanimated his body with his powers and abilities.
Revived, Flash laid low, especially with the people harboring anti-alien sentiments. However, a barista bonded with a symbiote and fought the Guardsman who intended to kill all surviving symbiotes. Flash got caught in the crossfire and while fighting the Guardsman, someone clicked pictures of him on their camera with Flash’s face exposed.
Extreme Carnage
Flash got a job at a veteran’s shelter where Tony Stark came to his aid after he psychically linked with Carnage unintentionally and lashed out at a worker. Iron Man needed him to help with the looming symbiote threats ever since Knull was defeated.
Flash and Tony tracked Carnage, who was bonded to Senator Peter Krane. Meanwhile, Andi was locked up at Alchemax and the Guardsman had reached her. Flash tried to bust her out but she was gutted by Phage, a symbiote bonded to Krane’s head of security. Andi could be saved if Doctor Steven spliced her symbiote with Antivenom antibodies. It turned her into a new symbiote called Silence.
Andi connected to Toxin’s void with her new powers and invited Toxin and the host Bren to help Flash with the mission. They also learned that Krane’s campaign was being used as a cover to assassinate him.
The Sleeper joined them and together, they fought off the symbiotes. They tried to contain them at Alchemax by Carnage and Agony slipped away.
Flash Thompson AKA Agent Venom: Powers and Abilities
As Agent Venom, Flash had the same abilities as Spider-Man such as enhanced strength, speed, durability, and an ability to crawl the walls. He could also generate his own webbing, which Spider-Man could not do.
His speed was fast enough to dodge bullets from machine guns. His strength was good enough to tear off turrets from tanks. He could generate tendrils from his suit and hold multiple weapons with it. He can also change the shape of his suit, create bladed weapons, and use it for self-disguises.
The symbiote also allowed him to heal himself. He could regenerate missing body parts such as eyes, and heal after being disemboweled.
The Venom suit also creates legs for Flash, which he had lost during his time in the army.
Flash can use sedatives and sheer willpower to manipulate the symbiote’s control over him. However, when he is angry, he loses control and gives it the upper hand. This also happens when he is in Venom’s suit for over forty-eight hours. He also becomes a lot stronger and bigger when Venom takes over, with the bloodlust for killing anything in its way.
As Anti-Venom, Flash has the same powers as Venom and several more. Firstly, it is caustic to the Venom symbiote so prolonged contact can kill it. Secondly, it is lethal for the Poisons. Thirdly, it can heal humans by purging them from their unnatural impurities such as poisons, toxins, drugs, and diseases. It can also help with physical injuries.
Flash also possesses the Spider-Sense, Spider-Sense Immunity, Adaptive Camouflage, Genetic Memory, Constituent Matter Generation, Constituent Matter Manipulation, and Night Vision.
Prior to gaining superpowers, Flash was a skilled marksman, trained to be a sharpshooter by the U.S. Army. He was also a boxer and a soldier, so he had seasoned combat skills, making it easier for him to use the symbiote’s power.
Agent Venom: Appearance in Films and Animated TV Series
Flash has appeared in several films and animated television series in the media. He has appeared in all the Spider-Man films as different actors alongside Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
In the 2002 “Spider-Man”, Flash was played by Joe Manganiello where he was Mary Jane’s first boyfriend. He was a bully who annoyed Peter, and went to the same high school as Peter and Harry Osborn.
He re-appears in “Spider-Man 3” in a cameo during Harry Osborn’s funeral.
In “The Amazing Spider-Man”, Chris Zylka portrays Flash, where he bullies Peter Parker. However, he stops doing so after the death of Uncle Ben.
In “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, and “Spider-Man: Far From Home”, Flash is played by Tony Revolori. He is Peter’s bully but this version is a lot wealthier and smarter than the other Flashes. Here, he is of Latino descent. He was snapped by Thanos during the blip, has neglectful parents who do not pick up his calls, and is a Spider-Man superfan who began to claim to be best friends with Peter after Mysterio outed him as Spider-Man.
In television animated series, Flash appears in “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends”, the legendary “Spider-Man: The Animated Series”, “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series”, “the Spectacular Spider-Man”, “The Ultimate Spider-Man”, and “Marvel’s Spider-Man”.
Every series depicts him as a bully more or less, some take it higher while some dilute it. In “Marvel’s Spider-Man”, he is seen introspecting over his actions that have caused others harm. The series since “The Spectacular Spider-Man” has shown Flash with his superpowers as Agent Venom. The movies are yet to show Flash as anything more than a side character.
Flash or Agent Venom appears as a playable character in the video games “Marvel Super Hero Squad Online” and “Spider-Man Unlimited”. He is an ambushed enemy in “Marvel Contest of Champions” and a team-up character in “Marvel Heroes 2016”.
Could We See Agent Venom In The Upcoming Spider-Man Movies?
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” has taken over the theaters by storm, bringing old and new fans of Spider-Man together. With the introduction of the Multiverse, the talk of the town has only gotten bigger and bigger. People are discussing newer characters who may be introduced, different universes colliding and trying to scourge through the Easter eggs to get tea on Venom.
As we all know, the symbiote has appeared in the Spider-Man series before, namely “Spider-Man 3”, “Venom”, and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”. But so far, it is not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But it will definitely be a part of it since the post-credits of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” does introduce the symbiote along with Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock. In the post-credits of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, Eddie Brock and his Lethal Protector were warped into the MCU and in “No Way Home”, he is seen drinking at a bar. Before he warps out, a fragment of his symbiote is unintentionally left behind in the universe. So, we will definitely be seeing Venom or a variant of the symbiote in action in the MCU.
It is possible for Marvel to bring Flash Thompson into the scene now. With MJ and Ned joining MIT, it is likely that they will befriend Flash, making him more prominent in this universe. However, Tony Revolori’s Flash is nowhere near the Flash in the comics who had gotten the symbiote, in the sense that the Flash in the comics went to war, came back, went back to war, did a heroic deed, and lost his legs before acquiring his superpowers. It would be hard for the MCU to turn him into Agent Venom at this point, but only time will tell what is about to come.
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